Conventionally, a library apparatus including slots for storing cartridges of magnetic tapes distinguishes the cartridges of the magnetic tapes by barcodes. For example, a cartridge includes a barcode indicating an identification number and includes a cartridge memory storing management information indicating a content in a storage medium. There is a known technology, in which a library apparatus searches for management information corresponding to an identification number newly read from a barcode and displays the retrieved management information.
In the library apparatus that distinguishes cartridges (hereinafter, referred to as “media”) by barcodes as described above, an initialization process is performed on a medium before operation on an unused medium.
For example, the following operation is performed as the initialization process on a medium. (1) An operator generates a barcode label, in which a predetermined label name, a medium type name, and a barcode converted from the label name and the medium type name are printed by a special printer, and attaches the barcode label on a back side of the medium. (2) The operator loads the medium to be subjected to the initialization process into a drive by operating a library apparatus. (3) The operator writes a label name or the like to a data block (hereinafter, referred to as a “VOL1”) at the head of a data area of the medium by operating a console, and writes two tape marks (hereinafter, referred to as “TMs”) following the data block. Meanwhile, a size of the data block is, for example, 80 bytes.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-22720
However, the library apparatus has a problem in that it takes effort and time to set a medium to an operable state. For example, in the initialization process on a medium, an operator attaches a generated barcode label to each of media one by one. Subsequently, the operator loads the medium with the attached barcode label into a drive by operating the library apparatus, and writes a label name or the like to an appropriate portion by operating the console. Therefore, the initialization process on the medium takes effort and time.
The above described problem may occur not only in the initialization process on a medium but also in the case of changing a label name of a medium.